October 20 – The chairman of English Premier League side Crystal Palace has revealed that talks have taken place to introduce cost controls, including a salary cap, to aid competitive balance in the English top flight.
Steve Parish says that for the first time the Premier League is looking at a ceiling on a club’s wage bill.
“As far as competitive balance (is concerned), people need to be bold,” Parish told his audience at this week’s Leaders in Sport conference in Twickenham outside London.
“I think there is change afoot. UEFA’s squad-cost caps are one idea. Maybe something that is a bit more rigid than that, with a hard cap at the top, that doesn’t take turnover into account, where there are vagaries of how that turnover comes about.
“There are really positive conversations going on about it. We also have to be very careful because there are also unintended consequences. Hopefully we will get somewhere that will be beneficial, not just to the clubs in the Premier League but to the whole pyramid and their ability to compete.
“The movement is towards controlling costs. UEFA already imposes restrictions on the cost of a team, limiting it to 70% of revenue. Such measures can also create consistency and allow clubs to spend more money if their turnover increases.”
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